Coop Italia has become the first 'Palm Free' supermarket chain across Europe, after eliminating palm oil from private-label products in just six months.
More than 200 Coop food products are now available without palm oil, including cookies, ice cream, snacks and baby food.
Palm oil has been replaced mainly with single seed oils, including olive oil, which are more nutritionally balanced and less high in saturated fats.
The initiative is part of Coop’s nutrition strategy, promoting the reduction of fat, salt and sugars which can cause health problems. It also stresses the importance of doing regular exercise, living a healthy lifestyle, and having a varied and balanced diet.
Although many Coop products have never used palm oil or other tropical fats, such as children's foods and the organic 'Vivi Verde' line, the replacement process led to the elimination of certain products. For example, some ice cream lines had to be dropped as it wasn't possible to make them with other oils or fats.
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
